Texas-Arlington’s Mitch Putnam hit a walk-off bases loaded ground-rule double in the bottom of the ninth to complete a four-run inning and give the Mavericks an 11-10 victory over Missouri State Friday evening at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas.
The Bears dropped to 1-1 on the season and broke a streak of 66 consecutive wins in games when scoring 10 or more runs. The Mavericks improved to 4-5.
UTA struck first when David McLeod smashed a liner up the middle with one out in the third that ricocheted off Jake Shafer’s head and landed short of left fielder Christian Overstreet. Daniel Rieder took advantage two pitches later and sliced a double to the wall in left center to score McLeod from first and give UTA a 1-0 lead.
Shafer would remain in the game and get out of the inning with no further damage, and stayed in until two outs in the fourth when he was lifted for Chris Mackey after allowing three runs on five hits.
The Bears answered right back in the top of the fourth, beginning with a leadoff walk by Nolan Keane. Kyle Paul followed with a single to left, and Brayden Drake ripped a double to the wall in left to score Keane and tie the contest. Josh Mazzola then lined out to right with a sacrifice that scored Paul after the Bears’ DH was able to elude the tag at home and give MSU a 2-1 lead.
The Mavericks loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth and came away with two runs in the inning. David Newby grounded into a double play that scored the first run, and McLeod singled through the left side to drive in the second. UTA would load the bases a second time but Mackey got a ground out to end the frame.
Ben Woodbury knotted the score back at 3-3 by blasting the first MSU homer of the season well over the wall in left field with one out in the fifth. Second baseman Matt Lawson followed that with a double to right that glanced off the glove of the diving right fielder, and came around to score on Clay Coulter’s single three batters later, giving MSU a one-run lead.
MSU extended the advantage to 6-3 in the sixth with a two-RBI triple from Lawson that scored Tanner Mattson and Woodbury, who reached on a single and a walk with two outs.
Texas-Arlington closed the gap to 6-4 in the sixth, scoring on an RBI single from Rieder after putting runners on the corners with one out. Freshman Pat Doyle relieved Mackey with two outs and got the third on one pitch.
UTA regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Leo Radkowski hit a two-run homer the landed on the top of the left field wall to tie the game, and Matthew Otteman made the score 7-6 with an RBI fielder’s choice.
The seesaw battle tipped back in the Bears’ favor in the top of the eighth. Overstreet and Mattson drew a walk and a hit by pitch and Woodbury followed with an RBI single. Lawson then hit his second two-RBI triple in a row, becoming the first MSU player to hit two triples in a game in more than four years. Keane then capped the four-run outburst with another single to score Lawson and give the Bears a 10-7 lead.
Buddy Baumann gave up the game-winning hit, however the run and loss was charged to Austin Todd (0-1).
The Bears close out play in the Southwest Diamond Classic tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Texas-San Antonio. Missouri State stays in Texas one more day for a noon Sunday game with Gonzaga on the UTA campus.
